Remembering You
by BubbleToes313
Summary: When Antonio appears at Arthur's home late one night claiming his hotel had lost his reservations Arthur is immediately suspicious of his true intentions, but chooses to ignore his instincts. After all, their relationship has faded away just like their old uniforms hanging in their attics. Right? Spuk! One-shot


It was only out of common courtesy that Arthur allowed Antonio to stay in his home when the Spaniard appeared on his doorstep. Soaked to the bone with a lopsided grin on his tanned face he claimed that the hotel he had originally booked in had lost his reservations and that at the late hour and relatively busy time of year for the hotel business he could not find anywhere else to say. Arthur had first considered slamming the door in his face, believing his desperate plea to be some sort of elaborate trick, but the moment he started to close the door Antonio yelped, tossing himself into the doorway and protesting noisily that he was being absolutely sincere. When the man had gone as far as to swear on his precious tomato garden Arthur had reluctantly agreed to let him stay the night. He had his appearance as a gentleman to keep up after all, and sending such a desperate looking visitor to his country away was far short of what would be considered gentlemanly: even if the particular visitor was once Arthur's strongest and most outspoken competitor.

Something did bother him though, and as he bustled around the house in a mad dash to clean and make the Spaniard comfortable the thought continued to nag at him: Out of all of the other visiting personifications in the area, Arthur simply could not fathom why the Spaniard had chosen him of all people to pester that night.

From what he remembered, there was at least three other nations that he knew of that were staying in the same hotel as Antonio. Two of which, Gilbert and Francis, Antonio was far more friendly with than he was with the often grumpy personification of the UK. He didn't understand what the former conquistador could possibly want from him, but for some reason he felt…nervous…standing in front of him.

Now bundled up on Arthur's couch, wrapped in Arthur's blankets, and drinking Arthur's tea, Antonio was staring back at the rather flustered looking Arthur with an incredibly satisfied look on his tanned face. His emerald eyes sparkling as he regarded the slender English nation with verdant eyes that sparked amusedly in the dim lighting. In fact, if Arthur didn't know better he would claim that the emerald eyes hadn't wandered from his form since the he had opened his door and grudgingly granted Antonio access to his home.

Shifting awkwardly, Arthur ran a hand through his tousled flaxen hair and glanced around the living room in an attempt to stare at anything beside the man eyeing him so strangely from the couch. Coughing to clear his suddenly tight throat Arthur returned his attention onto the man with a sigh.

"I…um…do have some work to get done tonight for the meeting tomorrow. I hope you don't mind." Arthur pointed out; breaking the uncomfortable silence that formed in the house after the original greetings had fallen silent. "Feel free to turn on the Telly if you get bored, and help yourself to the kitchen since you missed dinner. You know where your room is so I'm sure that you won't really need me for much, but if you do need me I'll be upstairs in my study." He explained a bit more frantically than he originally intended struggling to keep himself from outright demanding what in God's name the man was staring at him for.

The sun kissed nation simply beamed and nodded slowly, his eyes filled with amusement at the obviously uncomfortable Brit's stammering explanation.

"Of course _Arturo_! I will be as silent as _los muertos, _you will hardly know that I am here." Antonio promised, his voice purring out of his mouth in a way that caused Arthur to shiver despite his efforts to remain passive. Steeling himself with a deep breath Arthur nodded curtly and turned to leave.

"Holler if you need anything!" He called before retreating up the stairs and into his study without giving the man a chance to respond. Shutting the door behind him with a groan he scolded himself lightly for the blush he knew was crawling up his cheeks. "Get ahold of yourself you idiot…he just needed a place to stay. That's all." He reminded himself curtly rubbing the bridge of his nose with a soft grumble.

Of course he and Antonio had enjoyed each other's company in the past both as enemies and as lovers, but those days were long gone. The feelings that they held for each other faded just like their uniforms that now hung in their attics to collect dust. Their time together was over, and Arthur just needed to come to terms with it.

Sitting at his desk with a groan, Arthur pulled out the documents he needed to go over before he gave his speech the next day and absently began scanning over the pages.

Unfortunately his mind was not prepared to focus on any work related tasks at that moment. It took all his best efforts to keep his eyes locked onto the page and not glancing up at the door or staring down at the scars on the back of his knuckles from a fight he couldn't even remember clearly enough to say who he had been fighting against…perhaps Scotland?

After about twenty minutes, Arthur came to the realization that he had been staring at the same sentence without actually comprehending what the sentence was actually saying. Frustrated, Arthur cursed and tossed the paper aside leaning back in his chair with a soft groan. He was too distracted, his mind too caught up in the past to focus on some piece of legislation that he found unimportant to begin with.

Muttering to himself, Arthur lazily tapped his pen against his scratched and dinged desk, worn from years of use, and found his eyes flickering to something resting on the shelf above his computer. Reaching up, he slowly plucked the dust coated object from its home and brought it down to examine it.

Running a thumb across the surface to remove the dust, Arthur rolled the small piece of raw gold between his fingertips and a felt a small smile quirk the sides of his lips, memories flooding into his mind like a wave rushing across the shore.

"_Arturo mi amor! The new world…ah it is so beautiful!" Antonio cried happily as he entered the room in the dingy seaside inn that they had selected to be their secret meeting place and pulled the waiting Arthur into his arms. Kissing the English pirate passionately he rested his forehead against Arthur's his face practically glowing with the excitement as he reunited his lover after so many months apart. "It is everything that Italian Columbus said and more…and look!" He beamed pressing the small gold nugget into Arthur's palm and kissing his temple gently. "They have so much wealth Arturo…and no knowledge on how to use it." He murmured softly his eyes glowing with excitement._

"_And you plan on keeping all this wealth to yourself of course." Arthur asked with a soft smile, amused by his lover's excitement. Antonio smirked softly and lifted Arthur's hand up to his lips brushing his knuckles with a kiss gently. _

"_Oh I'm sure I will have at least one person who will attempt to take his share, mi __querido__." _

Arthur sighed heavily as he reminisced back to the years of fierce competition that soon followed that simple statement. Both he and Antonio wanted the wealth the Americas' possessed, but neither of them willing to share. The feelings of anger and jealously that built up during days they spent battling on each other's ships were remedied only by the long nights of passion they spent on shore warming each other's beds.

The shine that remained in the gold after so many years made Arthur smile fondly. At least one thing from their time together had lasted throughout the years. Hadn't crumbled or rotted or burned to the ground. Silently he wondered if Antonio ever thought back to the days when they were feared and respected Empires instead of the easily overlooked shells that they were today.

He was so distracted by his musings, that he didn't hear the door push open slowly, or the slow footsteps of his houseguest. Examining the object with a small, thoughtful smile conquering his face, he froze when a soft familiar laugh filled the air behind him.

"I remember the night I gave that to you, Arturo." Antonio whispered so close that Arthur felt his warm, spicy breath ruffling the hairs at the base of his neck. Feeling a blush roll across his cheeks at the proximity of the man he had just been fantasizing about, Arthur nodded slowly and traced a pale finger across the sparkling object.

"Oh? I figured you would have forgotten…it was such a long time ago." Arthur pointed out, fighting to keep his voice nonchalant as the Spaniard chuckled and reached around Arthur to pluck the object from his palm with a slim tanned hand.

"Of course I remember." Antonio murmured as Arthur turned around to face him, examining the gold with eyes that sparkled with some distant unknown emotion before they turned their attention back to the Englishman. "I even remember what you wore…you were trying to look like a commoner so your crew wouldn't recognize you when you left the ship." He grinned earning a small blush from the Englishman who felt trapped, his legs pinned up against his desk leaving him nowhere to retreat to. "You wore a plain white shirt…but you left the top untied so that you could see just enough of your chest to still seem appropriate." He whispered placing his hands on either side of the desk behind Arthur his sparking jade eyes locking onto Arthur's widening emerald ones.

"And your pants were black, loose fitting around the legs and tightening as they reached your waist. You had them stuffed into your into your boots…I remember because I could still see the dagger you kept on your calf." He whispered as he drew impossibly closer, but managed to keep from touching him their chests centimeters from actual contact and his nose resting just by his ear. "I remember that you wore the cologne I bought you for your birthday even though you said it smelt too feminine." Arthur's breathing was growing increasingly rapid as the man inched forward, the warmth radiating off Antonio's body in waves sending chills through Arthur's form.

"I…I didn't think…" Arthur stammered his shifting eyes catching Antonio's intense gaze and catching, leaving him feeling breathless and lightheaded, the swirl of emotions rolling through Antonio's irises enchanting.

"You didn't think…what? That I remembered?" Antonio asked softly, the hand not holding the gold reaching up to move some of the tousled blonde hair out of Arthur's face. Chuckling when Arthur glanced away he reached down and captured his chin between too firm fingers forcing the Englishman to look at him.

Arthur attempted to keep his gaze averted, but the intensity of Antonio's stare forced him to look up. Blinking in surprise when Antonio smiled fondly down at him, Arthur felt himself quivering slightly in confusion and anticipation. He hadn't seen the look that was resting in Antonio's face for years, not since the days before they parted ways.

Distantly, he felt his heart clench with pain and hope as he realized perhaps Antonio held some of those feelings for him still after all the years apart. Chuckling at the conflicted look on Arthur's face, Antonio cupped his cheek with a calloused hand and leaned forward until his lips rested just beside Arthur's blush colored ears.

"Did you really think that I came all this way in the rain because my hotel lost my reservations?" He asked softly taking Arthur's hand and pressing the piece of gold into his palm again. Arthur's blush darkened noticeably as he shuddered and clenched his eyes shut, relishing the proximity of Antonio's body to his own.

Antonio grinned and closed Arthur's hand around the gold piece, reaching up to brush the former pirate's cheek with his free hand. "I came to your house because I couldn't force myself to forget those nights, and I gave up my attempts to forget you a very long time ago, m_i amor_." Arthur felt his heartbeat thundering in his chest as Antonio spoke and shuddered as the man kissed the skin just under his earlobe. "What do you say Arturo…will you let this old conquistador have a second chance at winning you over?" Antonio's voice was a purr, his hands slowly moving to rest at Arthur's waist.

His heart slamming into his throat, Arthur wanted to pinch himself in disbelief as he stared up at Antonio's adoring smile and enamored jade eyes. Smiling shakily, Arthur reached up and wrapped his arms around Antonio's neck, his cool skin warming instantly at the contact. Leaning forward to rest his forehead against Antonio's he sighed and pulled Antonio to him tightly until he could move no closer.

"Well…I suppose I could give you a shot." He hummed softly earning a smile from Antonio that split his face nearly in two. Laughing softly Arthur was swiftly silenced as Antonio slammed his mouth against his kissing him hungrily attempting to make up for the time they had spent apart.

Startled by the force of the contact, Arthur stumbled back, the back of his knees slamming against the edge of his desk while his fingers tangled into Antonio's tousled chocolate colored locks. It took a moment, but once Arthur realized what was happening, he kissed back Antonio as fiercely as the Spaniard was kissing him. Humming softly as Antonio's grip tightened around his hips a small moan escaping from Arthur's throat as Antonio lifted him up and onto the desk.

Wrapping his legs around Antonio's waist Arthur laughed softly as the tan man broke the kiss only to start peppering Arthur's neck and shoulders with kisses and light bites.

This was the Antonio that he missed, the vision from the past that kept him awake at night longing for the days gone by. Not the smiling, happy go lucky man that he let the others know, but the powerful and commanding conquistador that he had done battle with in more ways than one.

The man that was running his hands across his chest and whispering sweet nothings into his ear switching liberally between Spanish and English among kisses was the man that he missed and yearned for. Now that he had him, he wasn't sure that he would give him up for all the gold left in the world.

Reaching up, Arthur took ahold of Antonio's chin and brought his lips back to his for a brief moment closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of spices and Antonio's aftershave. Shivering happily he broke the gentle kiss and grinned.

"I missed you."


End file.
